"No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it." T.R.
Representing the voice of little people.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Teresa Jean Whitten indicted by a federal grand jury

Teresa Jean Whitten,
39, Liberty, Missouri, who operated a real estate business has been
indicted by a federal grand jury for her role in a $5 million mortgage
fraud scheme.
The defendant was charged in a 10-count indictment returned by a
federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, November 28,
2012. Whitten appeared in federal court for her initial court appearance.
According to the federal indictment, Whitten was doing business under the name Leadership to Homeownership. Whitten
allegedly engaged in a mortgage fraud scheme from early to mid-2007
through February 23, 2009, in which mortgage lenders loaned borrowers
approximately $5,088,224. Whitten obtained in excess of $400,000 from the loan proceeds, the indictment says.Whitten
solicited potential buyers by advertisements, flyers, a website, and
other means, the indictment says, claiming that she had a program
through which people could purchase houses without putting money down
and could qualify and obtain mortgage loans for which they would not
otherwise qualify. Whitten's
scheme relied on false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting
documents, the indictment says. The false and fraudulent representations
and omissions allegedly included borrowers' income, employment, assets,
liabilities, and intent to occupy the property as their primary
residence.
According to the indictment, the loan applications falsely claimed
the borrowers were making a down payment and were bringing money to
closing, when in fact the funds were supplied by Whitten.
As part of the scheme, Whitten allegedly gave cash to borrowers so they
could obtain cashier's checks from their banks to take to closings.
From the loan proceeds, after closing Whitten allegedly
received funds both for her fee and reimbursement for the funds she
advanced, none of which was disclosed to the lenders.
The federal indictment charges Whitten with
five counts of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of
money laundering in relation to the mortgage fraud scheme.Whitten is also charged with one count of obstruction of justice. The indictment alleges that Whitten attempted
to impede the federal criminal investigation by destroying documents. A
grand jury subpoena required her to appear before a grand jury and to
bring certain documents with her, the indictment says. Whitten allegedly
gave boxes and bags of documents to two individuals and instructed them
to put the documents in a trash container at their apartment complex. Whitten allegedly
told these individuals that she was being investigated by the FBI for
mortgage fraud and that she had documents that would be of interest to
the investigation. She allegedly told them that she had added food
wrappers to the contents to make it look like trash, and told them to
set the documents outside in the rain to make sure they were ruined.Whitten is also
charged with one count of theft of government property related to a
Social Security fraud scheme. According to the indictment, Whitten received
$78,964 in disability insurance benefits and auxiliary payments for her
children to which she was not entitled, as well as a $250 Recovery Act
payment, for a total of $79,214.
David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced the indictment.
Ketchmark cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are
simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the
charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to
determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Parker
Marshall. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, HUD-Office
of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration-Office of
Inspector General and the FBI.